Manoa Valley

SACRED HEIAU




BEAUTIFULLY KEPT CHINESE CEMETERY






VOLUNTEERS HELPING TO KEEP THE STREAM CLEAN



HIKE TO MANOA FALLS

HISTORIC HOMES OF MANOA

by Jim Rumford, Manoa Press

I was quite excited several months ago when Malama o Manoa asked me to do a fully illustrated children's book about the legend of Kahalaopuna, the beautiful princess of Manoa, whose evil suitor is the famed Sleeping Giant of Manoa. Since I shared Malama's goal: to spread the word about our beautiful valley and to show what an important cultural site Wa'ahila Ridge is, I set to work right away. Within a few days of reading the many versions of the ancient legend--with especial emphasis on the version done by Manoa's Kimo Keaulana - I had a rough draft that began:

"Everyday the wind and the rain bring a rainbow to Manoa Valley. So it was in the ancient days when the wind, a man, and the rain, a woman, gave birth to a daughter. She was so beautiful that a rainbow followed her wherever she went."

Next I made sketches--of the beautiful maiden Kahalaopuna with rainbow hair, of Kauhi with his dark tattoos and of the gods' punishment: Kauhi lying atop Wa'ahila Ridge. Within a few months, I finished the entire book, with its watercolors and two texts - one in English and one in Hawaiian. The book is now at the printers and will make its debut early this summer.

The title of the book? Kahalaopuna, the Beauty of Manoa.